Going to the gym, you can see some pretty weird stuff. A lot of it has to do with the gym equipment: some of it can be difficult to use, and without the proper technique you might look silly or actually get hurt.
Reddit gym go-ers were asked about the funniest thing they’d ever seen at the gym. Here are their top answers.
Check out the source at the end of the article to read more!
Went to a smalltown gym once, place was completely empty save for a cute, blonde girl working at the reception area. I decided to do some leg squats in billion-dollar-man slo-mo style. This wasn’t just any conventional squatting machine though, it required you to lay on your back and push the weights upwards. Anyhow, got on the machine and did a couple of motions, got up, loaded more weights on and repeated. This carried on until I clearly loaded on too much weight, but you cannot give up when trying to impress a girl, so I soldiered on. I got to about the third lift when I started heaving and making muffled groaning noises. Have to do one more lift! Lift, lift, LIFT dammit! And then it happened. A clear, unmistakable farting sound escaping and echoing in the very empty gym.
Got up, threw my towel over my shoulder and walked out. That gym never saw me ever again.
keyboard_crusader
I was swimming backstroke once, and there was some random guy in my lane. He was just kind of chilling by the wall, and as I passed him, I accidentally cupped his balls. Extremely embarrassing, but I tried to play it off and didn’t stop. When I finished the next lap, I did it again. I didn’t stop swimming until he got out so I wouldn’t have to face him.
dietcokehead
A dude was running at full speed on a treadmill when he lost his footing, slipped, and the treadmill pretty much shot him right off of there. But where it really gets good is how he recovered. He was one one of the back treadmills that’s just in front of the mats where people do ab workouts. He landed in such a way that he was pretty much laying perfectly on the mat. So instead of getting up, he just sort of started doing crunches like nothing even happened. So much win.
[deleted]
When I was a freshman in college I went to one of my school’s athletic facilities by myself and had no idea how to get around. I was wandering around the area trying to find cardio machines when I noticed a room full of free stationary bikes and, though I was seeking a treadmill, decided that a bike would suffice. Within ten minutes all the bikes in the room were taken. And then an instructor came in. She asked me if I was part of her class (as I hadn’t been there the last couple of weeks). I panicked and just said yes. Turns out I was in some advanced spin class. I literally couldn’t walk back to my dorm afterwards, I had to sit in the locker room for an hour until I could really feel my legs.
NEVERISNOTDRUNK
I work out at a gym in a corporate office building. A decent percentage of the people who work there are foreigners. Most of them are late-in-life immigrants, so their assimilation to American culture is partial, at best.
Several of these guys follow the same workout pattern:
Walk into gym in regular work clothes: dress slacks, button-down shirt, dress shoes, tie.
Walk up to random station. Begin doing reps on station at whatever setting, equipment and weight is present. Make no changes to setting, equipment or weight.
Do a random number of reps (1-30) based upon the present weight.
Walk to another station, repeat.
No warmups, no stretching, no gym clothes, nothing. And even weirder: if they come in and everything is set wrong for them, they just leave and come back later.
thepatman
I was doing chinups and thought people were impressed, since people were looking. Turns out I ripped my shorts and my underwear was freely exposed. On the plus side, mostly girls looking, and no giggles.
kmdg22c
I was minding my own business doing free-weights when this huge red-headed viking comes and sits at the bench next to me, grabs the biggest weight there, and then looks at himself in the mirror and starts screaming “YOU’RE A WARRIOR” as he does his reps. I had to run out of the room so that I wouldn’t laugh my butt off at him and get torn in two by his inevitable viking fury.
clrtxf
I was on the treadmill just getting up to my second mile straight, which is my warm down from the rest of my routine, and I suddenly knew I was about to be sick.
I jumped off the treadmill, leaving my stuff on it, and you know how you feel like you’re moving really fast just after coming off a treadmill? Yeah I did, I went straight over on my back and projectile vomited right up in the air, and it came back down and landed on my face.
Luckily, it was really watery sick with no chunks, so it didn’t take long to clean up.
But it was a bad day.
Spectacularity
Witnessed a guy on a treadmill who decided to take off his sweatshirt whilst still running. Needless to say it did not end well for him, but it was hilarious for everyone else.
Six-Forty-Two
I saw some guy, who was supposed to be spotting for his buddy on the bench press, pull the bar back off of the uprights, after the person benching was clearly done with the set. The spotter was reaming out his friend for not being able to do anymore The person benching was fighting the spotter, trying to get the bar back on the uprights, so the spotter pushes the bar down, and continues to ream him out for not being able to get it off his chest. I was ready to go and help the benching guy right before the spotter finally lifts the bar off of his friend with one hand, acting all macho.
Later, the same guy (spotter) was doing some dumbbell bench presses with some 80lb dumbbells, and he made it a point to throw them as far forward as he could when he was done. My gym has plastered “DON’T DROP THE WEIGHTS” posters everywhere for people like this guy.
To top it all off, he was wearing a Monster energy drink beanie the entire time.
Griffun
Oh I have so many of these stories! I worked at a gym for two years, and you see your fair share of stupid.
My personal worst: I was attempting 40 lbs dumbbells on flat bench for the first time. My husband was watching football on the overhead tv instead of spotting me. My arm gave way mid rep and dumbbell smashes right on my face.
Had to clean up several used condoms and a used douche from the restroom on several different occasions
Had a guy ask me to spot him on the bench simply so he could look up my shorts. I had to give him props…didn’t even see it coming.
We had a tanning salon in the gym as well. Caught a couple having sex in a tanning bed. Found a random guy reading a comic in one of the tanning rooms after hours. Someone left an unpeeled banana on the tanning bed. Had to call the cops after finding an unresponsive female in a tanning bed.
kep10
This very overweight guy starts coming in a green tshirt. Two years later he’s wearing the same tshirt, it’s now hanging off him like a curtain, and doing an intense workout, pistol squats, weighted pullups etc. Brofist.
Czulander
Several years back a young and kind of attractive (some say) weather guy was a member at this fairly tiny gym. Anywho, my boyfriend and I are working out and when I go to get water I see him walk up to an employee (a very pretty, blonde, young lady) and says, word for word, “It’s getting kinda hot in here, SEXY HOT!” and then proceeds to try to flirt with her as she awkwardly walks away. My boyfriend and I quote that all the time and used to laugh every time we saw his face on t.v.
emmapkmn
Currently living in Korea and go down to my apartment’s gym frequently.
The typical Korean gym regimen I get to see every day:
Walk on the treadmill while holding the bar. If not holding bar, moving arms back and forth in a manner that most likely does nothing but make them look like a flight line marshaller.
Cigarette
Vibrating Belt Machine
Vibrating Platform Calf Workout
Also, lots of judging looks to those who run on the treadmills.
It’s one of a kind, for sure.
PackOfWildCorgis
I worked at a YMCA gym for about a year, and this happened during my last week there. A young guy, about 16, came in as a guest of a member. Part of my job was to basically do laps around the gym to check on everything, and on one of my laps I see this guy has his shirt off. It’s policy to keep shirts on, so I ask him to put it back on. He says okay. I lap again, and the shirt is still off. Ask him again to put it on, he says okay. I’m rounding lap 3 and now I see his pants are off, too. Mind you I’m a 19-year-old girl at the time, and I ask him to please get dressed, and he proceeds to tell me that I can’t limit his freedom of expression or something. The boxers come off – the man is naked. I throw an exercise mat toward him, tell his friend to please contain this guy, and run to get my boss (also a petite woman). We run back and basically surround him holding exercise mats, acting sort of like censor bars. We’re begging him to get dressed and he starts, I’m not kidding, doing karate moves, kicking and flailing around with his penis all everywhere. We eventually have his friend call his parents, he starts CRYING, and comes at my boss. At this point his friend takes him down and we call the police.
andsoitis
I used to work at a Gym in Fort McMurray (Northern Canada). At this gym we kept our dumbbells on the ground, in little groove latch things because our rack kept breaking. The problem with this is you can easily trip on the handles.
I’m also from England so I have a some-what pronounced accent. I was chatting up one of the women who came in, talking about her radio show. Some other guy came in, signed the sheet and left to do some warm-ups. He apparently was jealous that I was causing her to laugh and enjoy herself, while he couldn’t.
He started to yell out “OI. YOU BRITISH IDIOT!” and got up and started to walk towards me. Remember what I said about the dumbbells? Yeah. He tripped over one, faceplanted on yoga/exercise ball and then broke his nose when he bounced off of that. He then promptly left everything behind and ran out. He never came back for his stuff either and after having it for 3 months my boss said I could have his iPod and laptop.
Another example was that in the same gym we had one room containing beds for suntanning. Then we also had a large, out in the open, stand up spray-tan booth. One woman rented it for 10 minutes, which I clocked in and she started it.
After 15 minutes passed, I noticed she was still in there. I knocked on the door. No answer. I knocked again and said that I’d have to come in if she didn’t answer. No answer. I opened the door. She was masturbating. When she saw me she peed full stream, which scared her and me. She jumped, and I fell over. When she tried to leave she slipped on the pee and knocked herself out cold on the ground. The paramedics picked her up and carted her off.
[deleted]
I was on a treadmill once when my earbud cords got caught on something. My mp3 player was yanked onto the floor. I hopped off the treadmill to retrieve it and tried to hop back on. Instead, I was flung backwards and hit a wall. This all happened in front of a roomful of ripped muscleheads. It was really embarrassing, but it’s a funny story now.
The worst part was that I hit the wall directly under a poster that depicted a group of slender, pretty women all smiling and working out together. The caption on the poster read, “Excercise is FUN!”
WeekendWerewolf
I once saw a guy come out of the locker room with a long piece of crap-stained toilet paper hanging from the waistband of his shorts. Since it was hanging from the back of his shorts he didn’t notice it for the hour he was there. He was one of those people who had just started working out recently and mistook the glances from others as looks of admiration. Interestingly enough, he stopped to flex in front of the mirror in between every set. Poor guy.
That was me.
/sigh
spacewhale
My friend told me that he once saw a guy wash plates under gym a shower.
niiisiis
I was at my college’s gym about a week after I had transferred there and it was pretty empty. I was warming up on a bike and from across the room I saw a guy bench pressing with no spotter and being a pretty careful gymrat, I kept my eye on him. Minutes later he got tired and couldn’t get the bar up on the rack. It ended up crashing on his chest and I could tell he wasn’t able to get it off. His face turned red and looked to be in a good amount of pain. I ran over and lifted the bar off – and he’s been one of my best friends ever since.
Lou_The_Welterweight
My class was at the gym and a lot of them weren’t even trying to do anything. So I just got out my Ipod and went on a treadmill by myself. I’m running at a fairly high speed and then all of a sudden I fly forward, getting my body slammed on the controls smashing my head into a wall. So I go all woozy for a minute and when my head starts spinning; I realize what had happened. One of the guys had been talking to some girls on the exercise bikes behind me while getting a medicine ball. He put the medicine ball down on the ground and it got sucked under my treadmill firing me forward.
Sir_Roddrick
My worst happened yesterday. I was about to get out of the shower at my gym when I heard a baby cry and people yelling. Then a river of crap enveloped my drain and my escape. I guess their kid pooped himself and they thought it was a good idea to wash it down the drain with me downstream. All I could manage to do was huddle in the corner and sob “why….why….why…”
yogurt21
I over racked the bench press, and was struggling to do get even one rep in. I didn’t lock the weights, and started slipping to one side. All the weight fell off one side, loudly, which caused the whole set to tip wildly to the other side, making all those weights fall off, again, loudly. Left with nothing but an empty bar, I did a couple reps, just to make sure people knew I was here to workout.
Izawwlgood
This dude who by the way, looks and dresses hilarious, was hovering around the stationary bicycle I was riding on. I saw his reflection and thought hey, he can wait. I just got on this. So here I am, minding my own business, listening to some awesome Nine Inch Nails on my in-ear earphones when suddenly I see him coming at me threateningly shaking his head and doing some sort of circular motion with his hands. I immediately got off the cycle in a state of alarm and stepped back. He suddenly takes a U turn and walks off. I’m left there wondering what the hell just happened?
I then removed my earphones to realize he was dancing to a really catchy Gaga tune. As a part of his aerobic workout.
[deleted]
I saw a guy bring in 5 huge 2L bottles of different juices. He had orange, peach, cranberry and I forgot the other two, but every time he switched weights he would carry them around. That is massive over kill.
Another small, skinny guy was about to do 90lb dumbbells with a seated overhead press. I asked the guy if he was sure he could handle it and he just gave me a nod of approval. His friend spots him and grabs his arms to make sure he fully lifts it, then I just see the guy’s arm go all the way back and his shoulder dislocates.
pkon
My mother forced me to do spinning with her one night at the gym. The bike was one of the ones with the pedals that you slip and lock your feet into. One part of spinning is when you’re forced to stand and pedal, enjoying the firey burn in your poor, little buttocks. Because I’m so light, the sheer force of me pedaling in the standing position caused me to rocket upwards. On a normal bike, I would have just fallen off, relatively unharmed. However, the fact that I had my feet buckled in meant that I was violently jerked back into reality, smashing my thigh and genitals onto the bike base. Obviously out of control of the situation, my legs kept pedaling, meaning that I continued on to forcibly knee myself in the face for a good 10-seconds. I ended up with several injuries, including a black eye and a bruise the size of texas on my right, inner thigh. The harm to my genitals was grim.
tessssss
16 years old, first day working at an athletic club.
Work 10 hour double shift, exhausted, go into locker room.
See man collapsed lying naked on the floor.
Assume worst, rush up to him try and help since I’m first aid and cpr certified.
Tap man’s feet, and nudge shoulder while shouting “ARE YOU OK SIR?!” as is protocol.
No response.
Because locker room is deserted, rush back to office to call 911
Return to old guy, check for signs of life.
Man abruptly clocks me in the jaw and rams my head into a locker.
Curses me out for bothering him while sleeping, says he is going straight to my manager and wants me fired.
Ambulance shows up, ends up taking me to the hospital to deal with my now broken jaw.
Boss comes to visit me after surgery.
Don’t actually get fired for doing what I was trained to do and helping the guy.
Get fired for calling 911 in a non-emergency situation, even though the guy was playing coy with me when I checked for a response and I was following protocol.
Guy gets a free lifetime membership because of me inconveniencing him.
Pappoose
One time I was at the gym and this really beefed up bodybuilder was showing me how to do a certain workout. About 20 minutes later, I’m on one side of the gym and he’s on the other side working with a partner. In the middle of my set he screams, “YOU FEEL IT?!?!” All pumped up, I scream back “YEAH!!”
He wasn’t talking to me…
wasshammoud
In highschool, watched a guy squatting close to 500 lbs dip down to parallel, crap all over the floor, come close to fainting (he may have actually lost consciousness, I can’t remember), and then drop the weight on some other guy’s foot.
Another time, I was working out when the power suddenly shut off. One of the guys on a treadmill just kept running and flipped himself over the front of the treadmill.
washington__irving
Not at the gym, but in high school at a mandatory pep rally. They had one of the weight lifting kids doing bench presses in the gym in front of the whole school. Every time he pushed the weights up he got a huge erection. He must have done it 5 or 6 times, and had no idea his boner was going up and down as he lifted. Everyone saw and was laughing, I feel kind of bad for him thinking about it now.
BetsyGirl801
In high school this guy accidentally dropped a 45 lb circular weight ON THE TIP OF HIS PENIS as he loaded it into a leg lift. One of the worst things I’ve ever witnessed. He cried.
alwayschewsgum